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PRESS RELEASE: IC Media Announces 3 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor

New Offering Expands Company's Portfolio of Leading Megapixel Products

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2003--IC Media Corporation today announced its new 3 Megapixel CMOS image sensor, specially designed to provide high-quality images required for mainstream digital cameras. Utilizing the company's new high-performance sensor pixel design, the products simultaneously enable 3 Megapixel cameras to be more affordable, while offering even clearer pictures for wide consumer use. IC Media will showcase this latest offering at the Photographic Marketing Association (PMA) show in booth L-161. The show begins March 2, 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"The image quality provided in this high-resolution sensor is at a level competitive with charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor products. Reaching this image quality milestone now provides camera designers with a cost-effective/simple-to-design solution to meet their product requirements," stated Dr. Ben Wu, president and chief executive officer, IC Media.

The ICM110T 3 Megapixel image sensor is ideal for both digital still camera and digital video camera solutions. System designers can now incorporate this image sensor into consumer electronic imaging products that are in high demand from end users. The combination of IC Media's 3 Megapixel sensor with new and creative product designs will provide consumers with a variety of exciting products later this year.

IC Media was able to achieve high-quality imaging by using 4.0um x 4.0um pixels to optimize the best price/performance ratio. This image quality allows the ICM-110T to effectively compete against CCD-based designs. The ICM-110T design also offers the advantage of being an electrical pin-for-pin, drop-in replacement for IC Media's ICM108B 1.3 Megapixel and ICM109T 2 Megapixel CMOS sensors. Customers can now do one board design and use it for 1.3 Megapixel, 2 Megapixel and 3 Megapixel camera designs.

Using 0.25-micron process technology, IC Media was able to reduce the size and power requirements for digital camera designers. The new product draws less then 50uA at 3.3 volts (V) in stand-by mode, and the power requirement remains below 60mA at six frames-per-second and below 100mA at 12 frames-per-second. The ICM-110T uses a dual-voltage power scheme for maximum dynamic range with 2.5V for the circuit and 3.3V for the sensor array.

The ICM-110T single-chip, digital color imaging device incorporates a 2048 x 1536 (3,145,728 pixels) sensor array capable of operating at up to 12 frames per second with sub-sampled quarter and quarter-quarter (1/16) resolutions, operating at higher frame rates in a progressive manner. It also provides register selectable frame rates of 12/6/4.3/2.1/1.8/1.2/0.9/0.42 frames-per-second modes. Correlated double sampling is performed by the internal 11-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and timing circuitry. The output is 10-bit raw data that can be fed to other digital signal processor (DSP), color processing or compression chips.

Pricing and Availability

The ICM-110T is currently available in sample quantities in LCC48 packaging. Production quantities will be available in March 2003 for $12.50 in 10,000-unit quantities